The Portland daily press., 1887-08-12
THE DERToW.
A Phenomenon of the Sea that Bath
ers Should Beware Of.
rHarner,s weekly !

1 uonH oHS WAS JCIhcu Cltdu ulueT water DV
tibet treachrous undertow, an you couldn't
see her agin till she was nigh onto a mile
out from the shore. An then she warn't moth
| in more'n pile of broken timber an torn
| riggin'."
This characteristic expression was taken
from the lips of an old sailor, and used as
the text for powerful sermon by an emf
| nent divine who overheard the remark The
| strong, uncertain currents of vice that flow
beneath the social life of humanity he lk-.
ened unto the treacherous undertow of the
sea that PUSHES swiftly but silently a short
| distance below the placid surface of the wa
| tiers, and carries its victims to certain death
and destruction.
The Illustration, powerfully put, was a
| good one, bur unless the hearers were of a
sea-loving disposition, considerable explana-
ton might have been required concerning
the nature of undertows before the full force
OF the point could have been comprehended
| Undertows are like vice il that they are con-
lined to no particular locality, but make their
| appearance at all times and places, and in
| as many forms as vice itself, graduating
| from the harmless eddy that makes the sand
sink beneath your feet on the sandy beach
to the fierce maelstrom that hurls stout ships
to irretrievable destruction. Every wave
that rolls up from the sea and break, on the
gently sloping beach has in it the elements
OF an nndertow. As soon as the wave has
expended its force the waters begin to re-
cede. For moment it would seem as if the
sand was all running away from beneath
| your feet, and no sosnd foothold could be
nd lNotl -
| this sensation, and the timid ones invariably
| grasp the safety ropes with little gasp of
terror. If seized suddenly by a strong UNI
uert0w they would have about the same feel
ing, only in the latter case the sand would
all WASH away under their feet, or, more ac-
| eurately, their feet would be carried away
from the sand. The sudden unbaancing of
the BODY would be fatal to the bather, unless
STRONG rope was in reaching distance; for
| 1t does not require very strong current to
carry hOatlng body out to sea. The unfor-
Iunate frequencies of undertows near our
beaches makes it dangerous for bathers to
enter tne waters unless they are well ac-
| qnainted with the tides and currents in the
heighborhood. The undertows are not SO
| marvellOusly strong as is frequently quoted
put that they. will often carry bathers off
their I feet and pull them quite distance sea-
into saltwater up to his waist he is very
light on his feet and an undercurrent sud
denly striking him and washing the -
along with 1t is liable to upset him .~.s,Iu.
treacherous cngrest- he would be carried ied
n91a US u yards from the shore before he
/ could recover himself, even though he be a
| good swimmer.
| As the undertows flow out to sea they
| gradually leave the surface of the water and
| penetrate deeper into the liquid mass, losing
| their force as they do so. Sometimes their
strength is dissipated altogether when reach
| ing deep water and coming in contact with
numerous counter undertows or currents,
| put more often they flow into some perIna-
nent current which travels the whole length
| or breadth of the ocean; hence objects that
| are caught near the shore by the undertow
| and carried under the water by the force of
| the current are likely to be thrown up on the
| surface Of the sea some distance from the
beach. The length Of time that the objects
| Will remain under water depends solely upon
the strength Of the rushing waters. This
TACT has been, illustrated frequently in curl
Gus ways. Some ten years ago a small
| schooner laden with valuable cargo went
| down off Fire Island Lighthouse in the
middle of clear day. She had sprung leak
and owing to the cumsiness of the heavy
| articles composing the cargo the sailors could
not reach the spot where the water was rush
| ing In. The vessel gradually settled down in
| the water, while the crew took to their boats
and escaped to the beach. The exact spot of
the accident was located, however, by the
to raise the sunken schooner. The water
was comparatively shallow, and little diff
Guilty was anticipated in getting at the wreck
But the wrecking crew and the captain were
all considerably puzzled, when they at
tempted to find the schooner, at not being
able to discover the faintest sign of its
whereabouts. The bottom of the ocean was
| sounded In all directions around the spot
| pointed out by the captain, but all to no
| purpose. Finally the work was given up,
| and the strange disappearance of the schoon-
| er attributed to some of those mysterious
workings OF the sea that have in all ages
astonished naylgators and divers The his
| tory of he wrecked boat would have probab-
~ ended there had it not been for an ac-
cldental discovery made shortly afterWard
| While sounding the sea off the lighthouse
during fog the lead from an ocean steamer
| came in contact with the rigging of wrecked
| vessel, which was reported to the proper
| authorities on arriving in the city. On ex-
| amlning the place the lost schooner was
| brought to light She was at least three
| quarters OF mile from the spot where she
had gone down. On discovering later that
| during high tides strong undertow fire.
| quented that part of the BEECH, the cause of
the strange removal of the boat was attrib-
uted to It. 1t was supposed, and reasonably
| so, that when the boat sunk, the undertow
| caught it before it struck bottom and carried
it along with it, and finally dropped it in
| deeper water,
| In the same way the strength of the under
tuWo udfc frequently caused considerable
| damage in carrying the sounding-eads of
| vessels along with them. On approaching
| certain shores the waters frequently become
| abruptly deep or shallow, so that the time
between two "heaves" of the lead might be
| long enough for a steamer going at moder-
| ate rate to run full upon a submerged sand
bar Cases are on record where the lead
has been thrown again only to find no bot
tom at all. The fact was, however, that the
bottom was nearer the surface of the water
than when the first Lead uo hut
strong undertow having seized the heavy
piece OF lead, the line was played out until
1t was brought with jerk when the end
was reached. The lead was hauled in slowly
as plenty OF water seemed to be present, and
only thrown again after the boat had run
ahead considerable distance 1t did not
require many fath0ms of line to reach the
bottom in the next heave: in fact there was
scarcely water enough to float the vessel
The signal to reverse the engines was given
at once, but all too late. The boat ran high
and dry ON the reef before her Roadway
could be checked
shore of Long Island undertows are so nu-
Eer0us that it is unsafe to go in bathing
without one has fair knowledge of the wa
tiers. The series of outlying bars that char
acterize the beach in certain localities there
makes admirable provision for the formation
OF undert0ws Usually where the bars are
especially numerous and extensive in forma-
tion a large inlet joins the Great South Bay
WIFI bne ocean. Lie immense volume of wa
ter that rushes through this inlet twice day
creates small whirlpools, eddies, undertows,
and all conceivable disturbances. The inlet
narrows as it wends its way through the
sand-bars, and when the tide in the ocean is
at the low water mark there are still millions
of tons in the bay that must be emptied be-
fore it will reach the level of the sea. The
inlet then is not sufficient to conduct the
whole volume seward quick enough, and
t the waters, after passing the high banks of
tLe peaches, rush unanimously over the
sand-bars like the waters from the mountain
toIIeht. The rolling breakers are reached
anu tnen true battle of the elements takes
place. currents are formed on every side,
anu undertows brought into existence nu-
meI91siy. The rising water of the ocean on
~ adds TO the general disturbance and the
undsatows are increased in strength and
pushed nearer to the beach. Bathers who
venture far from the shore in such places arc
liable to meet with accidents that are eener,
ally fatal In their results. Swimmers whoso
powers OF buffeting the angry waves Of he
ocean have never been doubted have fire..
quently disappeared beneath the waters
within sight of their friends, never to reans
pear again in a recognizable condition. A
sudden throwing up of their hands. a ouick
cry for help, and then sudden disappear
ance of the head were all that could be OH
served from the shore. A cramp, or seized
by shark has usually been the explanation
I'M fha hot ho.